


A Very Merry Fashion Show

by Muze



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Christmas fic, F/M, Hallmark Movie scenario, Holidays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-21 17:16:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17047301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muze/pseuds/Muze
Summary: Nesta and Cassian are called in to the meeting room of Dreamers, the fashion brand created by Feyre and Rhysand. Because of Feyre's pregnancy, she and Cassian will have to go to New York and fulfill all their duties. Of course things quickly take a turn for the worse when they miss their bus and are left to their own device to find a way to get to the city in time.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Featuring (or to feature) all Christmas Hallmark movie cliches like: having to share a bed, sharing a room, pretending to be a couple, tough businesswoman ft down to earth boy, reindeer, holiday events, awkward moments and much fluff. 
> 
> I'll really try to finish this one before Christmas!

Obviously inspired by the “Rhysand made Feyre’s dresses” idea.

A little Christmas fic for these two bickering lovers

 

The first terms anyone thought of when they heard the name Nesta Archeron were: determined, intimidating, serious and emotionally unavailable.

Nevertheless everyone spoke of her with great respect. She was the ice queen of the organisation, but heavens was she useful.

When Feyre broke things off with her ex Tamlin Springster, golden boy of the American football, she created a fashionbrand together with fashion designer Rhysand Notte. The goal for Feyre was simple; it would become an ethical clothing brand, focussed on minimalizing their waste, using durable and environmentally friendly fabrics and employing victims of sexual abuse. Anyone who experienced a toxic living situation and now sought to better their lives by earning a good wage so they could become financially independent was welcome.

It had been a small brand, barely making enough to make enough profit to launch the next season until Nest Archeron came in.

Cassian had been in school with all three Archerons, and they’d never been particularly close. Though she sometimes featured in Elain’s snapchat and Instagram stories, Nesta was never visible in Feyre’s account. He’d been told by Rhysand they were still awkward around each other from time to time, but one day Nesta appeared, having quit her big money making job, and entered Feyre’s business with the message she was going to help.

And within the year their profit rose by 130 %. Nesta’s experience in P.R. and marketing paid off immensely and she was a huge negotiator. They never had to pay a thing to make presenters and influencers wear their clothing. She pulled strings like the finest musician, and within the first six months of her being in the business, six Hollywood actresses had worn their label to an A-list event. Feyre was drowning in interviews. After the MeToo movement and in a period of rising feminism and awareness of sexual abuse, brands like hers were in high demand. People didn’t just want clothing, they wanted good clothing, that was good for everyone involved in the process.

Many reviews were especially praising of the encouraging messages hidden within the clothes, an idea pushed forward by Elain, who normally let Feyre run her business but sometimes offered a subtle suggestion Feyre would immediately fall in love with. Elain never took any pride or credit for her ideas and stuck to her work at an animal farm where she interwove incredible garden designs with the animal cages and fields.

Feyre’d held her annual staff party there once, and Cassian had been in awe during the tour. Apparently all plants had been carefully selected and placed to attract insects, produce smells or show interesting textures and colours all year round. There were little corners everywhere, and there was something to discover at every turn without being too stimulating, apparently that was a very deliberate choice for children that both craved and hated sensory stimulation. He was a big fan of the dwarf goats, bunny fields and the sheep. He enjoyed the ponies as well, though the cats that walked freely on the grounds were his favourite thing to chase.

He’d come as a friend of Feyre and Rhysand back then. But now he was finally a part of their firm.

He got along wonderfully with just about everyone. Except with Nesta. And to be fair, it wasn’t for a lack of trying on his side.

Maybe she saw him as a rival because of their positions. Nesta arranged the contact with brand ambassadors and journalists, but the creative presentation of the collections and the editorials had always been Feyre. She was a lovely artist, but she didn’t have a marketing mindset. She got help from Mor, but now Mor had moved away with her girlfriend and had pushed Cassian forward.

Feyre had known Cassian for years, but she’d been sceptical about appointing him as creative director and commercial director. He understood her apprehension, he’d had many jobs: boxer, bouncer, sports teacher, Prince Eugene at Disney World, but he had never shown a creative side. Then again, Mor had known him since high school and had seen him work his arse off in art class. And at the end of each year, when they took all their projects home, the teacher had to realise in awe that Cassian had incorporated colour schemes and secret themes into his works each year to get a coherent collection.

His eye for combining clothing items and moods also continued in his own wardrobe. He’d never hidden the fact that he was a vain man, but Mor had titled him the only man on earth who had a mood book for his own closet every season. He wasn’t a shopaholic, he didn’t add too much to his closet each year. He didn’t have the money for it and rather spent it on his friends, but he invested in pieces he liked.

But Mor suggested it and Feyre trusted both Cassian and Mor enough to put him on trial. Great had her surprise been when Cassian presented the most coherent look books and fashion campaigns the brand had ever had. The commercial he’d created combined humour, the political problems they were advocating  and an idea of glamour and relaxation in an effortless manner. It was received incredibly well, and his efforts caused a drastic increase in the interaction on social media and visitor numbers of the website.

But it was their Christmas ’18 collection which truly showed his artistic light. He’d been working on it the entire year. He’d created three short ten second clips for a couple of party looks, a look book and four incredible magazine shoots. Next up was a calendar with their greatest haute couture photographs of the year, the proceeds integrally went to charity. But it was his big finale that made his commercial win the price of commercial of the year.

He’d felt hesitant about making it, as it felt too private to share with the world. But knowing Feyre’s brand and the importance their brand gave to speaking up, he felt like he would fail the brand values he cared about if he kept the story to himself.

It was a short film, following the life of a girl struggling in school because her parents fought every night. When she tried to cuddle her mother when her father was screaming at her, her father struck her and sent her away. The girl passed by an aerodrome each day, and watched as gliders and motorized aircrafts slid through the sky. At home she researched airplane mechanics and training brochures. At the end of high school, she shoved a folder towards her parents with pilot courses on them. The next shot showed her working in a shop and a nightclub. She eventually ended up with a man who was kind, but then turned abusive as she lost a child. She stopped working and became dependent of him. There were no sex scenes but it was evident it turned violent. She got pregnant again and was seen being happy with her son despite the abusive relationship with her husband. A scene of a protest was shown as the woman returned from dropping her son off at school. The scene was crowded with women. The woman’s face was devoid of expression. Her parents died and as she sorted through their stuff, she found her drawings of airplanes. She saw her son running outside as superman pretending to fly, and she smiled.  
The father pushed the son towards hard sports, despite the mother noticing he liked to draw. She fought with her husband, until he took up a heavy object. She ran for the door, but paused when she held the handle, thinking about her son.

The next scene was of her bringing her son to school and seeing a store window. T-shirts of “Only yes is yes” “You matter” “Your body is yours”, hung there. She saw a post hanging at the door with “hiring” on it.

The woman entered after dropping off the boy. The men and women inside the shop smiled at her.  
The next scene was of her looking at her pay check as she turned around in a small apartment in which she lived with her son. They were both wearing a t-shirt with a plane on it. The final scene showed the shop window again, this time with t-shirts with airplanes and the messages “Fly away”, “Spread your wings” “Believe in yourself & You can fly”.  
The commercial ended with a call for awareness and telephone numbers to report domestic abuse were listed and the message “It’s never too late.”

When they asked for his inspiration he just exclaimed that it was a frequent occurrence, he cited the number of women who suffered domestic abuse, were financially dependent or felt stuck because of their kids. He’d made the story but he couldn’t tell that it was the story of his mother. Rhysand and Azriel knew though, and knew the real ending wasn’t as nice. His mother had been a dreamer, a free spirit despite the harsh reality in which she lived. His father had successfully cut her wings. When Cassian was fifteen, his mother had arranged a trip for Cassian, Azriel and Rhysand, just a weekend of fun for the boys. It had been then, not when Cassian was small, that his father had picked up the heavy object. It had been the last night of her life. Cassian returned home to a crime scene with his father gone and his mother laying in a pool of her own blood near the door.

The Wings and Dreams collection was a smash hit, and the fear of selling out before the season was over was immense. They were still a small business, their ethics making them unable to produce large quantities. They didn’t create enough clothes to put them in other clothing stores. Their board wasn’t big enough to go international. They had about two hundred seamstresses by now, and two stores. But the demand was incredibly high.

Yet, yet they had to do a fashion show. It simply had to be done. Had they reached their full potential? They were a small company, trying to enlarge it while still having such a small board wouldn’t be good for their mental health. Feyre already felt overwhelmed, though she was very committed and determined to continue. ‘Other companies will for sure pick up on this. Look at the attention, it’s obvious that there’s a market for ethical companies. Maybe the demand on our people will finally quiet down then.’ ‘You’re for sure the only business owner who would like to lose customers to a competing business; Feyre darling’, Rhysand had laughed.

Cassian had visuals of the decoration of the catwalk and the space the catwalk took place in. He’d made pictures of every look and the exact order in which the models had to wear the looks down the runway. He had the playlist done, the invites were sent out, the only thing Feyre and Rhysand had to do, was see to it that the plans were executed and then they simply had to walk down the runway, bend and give a speech.

Everything was arranged.

That was until it happened.

Nesta and Cassian were called in at the same time, both being surprised at seeing the other in the room. Cassian had greatly admired her work and the efficiency with which she continuously created new waves of attention and pushed forward ambassadors from all different branches. From domestic abuse survivors, lawyers, actresses who weren’t afraid of being political, human right lawyers and famous politicians, she got to them all.

And the most amazing part was that she actually advocated laws that punished businesses for discrimination, managed to make big businesses  organise workshops on sexual intimidation on the work floor and she actually succeeded in creating compulsory courses for academic staff on how to deal with inequality, intimidation and mental health at six big universities. She was a miracle worker, and it wasn’t just for the brand. But her last name was Archeron, and the fact that she went beyond brand importance in her politics, made the people convinced that the Archeron sisters went beyond personal interests and were genuinely concerned with these issues instead of riding on another wave of feminism.

‘Nesta and Cassian, I called you in because I wanted to thank both of you for your incredible services to this brand. Underneath the guidance of you two, the brand has known a tremendous growth even I myself never dared to dream of.’

Cassian, from his experience, knew a conversation that started out like this could only head two ways. They either got promoted, or fired, and last time Cassian checked, they had the highest jobs they could have in their field. Though it seemed odd Feyre would fire them, there seemed no use in pointing out their value without heading towards a reward or a gentle let-down.

‘That’s why Rhys and I have decided we would trust you two to go to New York in our place and arrange the fashion show and do the interviews. I’ve gotten nervous with the attention anyways, the tabloids should get to know the other people in the company as well.’

‘You do realise that the point of P.R. is to draw attention to the brand and the faces of the brand, not to the P.R. people.’

‘I know. Just like you know I’ve allowed Cassian and you full jurisdiction of your fields, much more than any brand owner usually allows. I’ve allowed both of you to experiment and come up with techniques and campaigns without pushing you in any direction. I barely ever meddled in your decision making process while you two take up such a big and vital part of the decision making of this brand.’

It was true, Cassian realized, he’d been so focussed on his job and coming up with plans and visions and commercials that he hadn’t realized how little direction Feyre or Rhysand gave him. And they had barely voiced any critiques. He’d always assumed that it was because they liked what he was doing, but it was true, he’d had almost unlimited freedom to do whatever he wanted. Come to think of it, he’d even _ordered Rhys_ to make a couple of garments within a certain theme. Back then he’d only thought about how he needed more garments to create a theme for his catalogue but damn, he’d made the collection, Rhysand had just made the garments. No other employer had ever granted him such freedom.

He looked at Nesta. She wasn’t surprised. She’d known. Maybe it wasn’t surprising Nesta knew, she seemed to notice everything.

‘I’m not forcing you Nesta, I’m offering you. I cannot go myself since… Well.’ Feyre looked about awkwardly, grasping Rhysand’s hand. He offered her the most adoring stupidly lovestruck smile imaginable.

He was so happy for the two of them. She’d known him from back when she was together with Tamlin the Tool, he’d been an influencer who’d toyed around with multiple occupations, from nightclub owner, to stylist and occasional fashion designer for certain brands. But he’d been fickle, never willing to continue a job for over a year, nor a home, or relationship. Until Feyre. Suddenly all mistresses and lovers seemed to disappear from his life, and by the time Feyre and Tamlin broke up, he was ready to properly settle down.

They’d become business partners first, and for a long time Feyre had publicly laughed at the idea of everyone’s beloved bad boy and her becoming lovers… Until it happened. Not even Cassian knew when it had happened to be honest, he just knew that he was happy for them, and even happier when they went public- while at the same time announcing they were married.

‘I’m pregnant and I’ve been struggling with the worst kind of morning sickness. And it’s a sickness that lasts all day. It’s something called hypere- oh fuck it, you know, the thing Kate Middleton had. Point is: I’m in no way fit to travel or go through all those public engagements.’

‘And I feel like I should stay, given that I’m the one who knocked her up.’

‘Everything is booked. It’s supposed to be easy. You’ll take the bus, since it’s only two states away I thought going by plane would be silly and ecologically irresponsible. You’ll arrive three days before the fashion show so you can check up on the decoration of the show each day, though the workers got your exact plans for it and all the necessary decoration and equipment is already present. The day of the show, there’ll be an interview with Elle, Vogue and Cosmopolitan for Nesta. And there’ll be a joined interview with Glamour and Forbes with both of you. And then Cassian, you’ll have two interviews with specialized magazines about the collections, video, editorial techniques and so on. It was supposed to be with fashion magazines for Rhys to talk about design but we had to change that. You can’t talk about that of course. Nor can any of you talk about the big vision of the company, but just reflect on your experience working for us and why you work for us and what you think our brand contributes. You’ll have plenty to talk about. Then there’s the fashion show and the afterparty. The next day is some socialite-model-brand-event and a reception in the evening. The third day will be a day where you’re supposed to go to a broadcasted event about sustainable fashion,  I had already prepared a presentation and written speech, you’ll only need to practice it. You can decide which one of you two will give the presentation. Could you please do it?’

He looked at Nesta, her face remained cold. Not flattered, not amazed by what they got to do, it amazed him. Cassian was practically bouncing.

‘What’s the catch? Everything seems to be perfectly arranged.’  
‘There’s no catch- only… There’s only one suite and everything else in the hotel and the other nearby hotels is rented. It’s the busiest week of the year.’  
‘Is there no other cheap hotel? I don’t mind.’  
‘Nesta, our clothes are there. We can’t risk them being stolen. Our models are there, the journalists are in the other nearby rooms or hotels, it’s close to the venue and it’s unpractical for discussions or eventual problems if you two aren’t near each other. I can try and accommodate you in every way possible except put you in split rooms. We deem it necessary. I’m sorry but that’s it. The only other option is that Rhysand goes with either you or Cassian instead of the two of you combined if you dislike working with each other.’

‘I don’t mind working with you Nesta, nor do I mind sleeping on the floor. You’ll barely notice I’m there- that’s not to say I won’t do my part.’

Nesta breathed in and looked away, staring at the ground, Feyre, her hands, and finally Cassian.  
‘Fine, I’ll do it.’

‘Okay, now that that’s over, may I just say how incredibly cool the prospect seems. Guys, guys, I’ve never been to New York.’

‘If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go cancel my appointments.’

Nesta nodded towards Rhysand and Feyre and left.

Maybe that’s why she wasn’t excited. To her, this was just an employer asking for overtime on her side. Her schedule was a very busy one, after all, he didn’t know how she juggled it.

‘It’s at times like these I wish our board was a big bigger. You understand, don’t you Cassian? I couldn’t have asked one of our models or financial advisors to do this. You two are the next big visible people. You’re both involved in the decisionmaking process and can both give good speeches. I wish I didn’t have to ask Nesta to pose or speak to people, but I didn’t have much of a choice.’

‘Oh, so the interviews are with pictures?’  
‘They are.’

‘Why do you mind asking her? She’s paraded throughout the whole country for campaigns.’  
‘Yes, she likes working on projects that matter to her, but believe me when I tell you it takes all of her strength to go out and face cameras and interviews. She loathes them. She’s awkward in front of a camera, can’t open up to save her life, nor can she engage in banter. She considers journalists awful people who constantly twist her words and she’s camera shy. And on top of that, she’s Nesta. She’s tough to work with, and that’s coming from her sister.’

‘You almost seem completely unwilling to let your sister do this.’

‘Oh no, I’m very willing. I just know she’s doing this for me, and she doesn’t like me for asking this of her. She’s the absolute best there is to find, she’ll be better than I would’ve been, but that doesn’t mean she comes without her amount of shortcomings. I know Nesta didn’t open up to anyone in the company, that’s why I felt the need to at least inform you on some of her opinions and personality traits.’

‘I appreciate the heads-up, but I’m sure I’ll manage. Maybe the proximity will make her open up a bit, she might discover that some of her co-workers are pleasant people.’

Rhysand laughed.

‘I admire your optimism Cassian.’

‘We know you like Nesta, Cassian. But please don’t try to seduce her. In the very best case you’ll get your heart broken, in the worst she’ll break your bones.’


	2. 2: An Unexpected Journey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!   
> This is the final introductionary chapter before it all goes wonderfully wrong.  
> I'm sorry I couldn't live up to my promise and post everything before Christmas. Shall I try to do it before 2019? Maybe that's a bit courageous, I'll see where I get, and I hope you'll be there with me. 
> 
> Who else isn't ready to start the final year of the 10's? I'm still not mentally ready to think of 2020 being so close, I can still remember 2010 like yesterday and discussing the 2020 climate agreements in class as something for the distant future lol.

It was November 25th when Cassian and Nesta met each other at the gathering spot for the bus to New York.

‘Morning Nesta.’

She wore the most casual outfit he’d seen her in since high school. Comfortable but fashionable tweed slacks, a matching blaze, a black blouse and block heels. Yet she still looked like the most stunning thing he’d ever set his eyes upon.

The white and pastel blue suit made her look so soft and lovely. He could simply eat her.

‘Hello Cassian.’

‘Ready for a lovely long trip?’

She held up a book and a pair of headphones. ‘All set.’

It wasn’t the answer he was hoping for. Not by a long shot, he’d hoped the proximity would make it easier to talk to her.

‘What’s that book about?’ he asked as she handed her incredibly large suitcase to the driver. Cassian just threw in his duffel bag himself. He sloshed through the molten grey snow on the side of the road. It wasn’t snowing at the moment, and there was none in the middle of the road so they should be just fine.

‘Oh, nothing really. Just a simple pass time.’

‘North and South… Is it about the Civil War? You call that a pastime?’

‘No, it’s a title referring to the north and south of England. It’s a literary classic. But there is a series about the civil war with the same title. I understand the confusion.’

But by the way she shook her head, Cassian felt embarrassed for not knowing.

They hopped in the bus and he _did_ get to sit next to her.

As she thumbed through the pages, Cassian amused himself with both watching her and watching a movie. He’s not much of a reader, reading gets him a headache at the best of times, attempting to read in a moving vehicle? Thank you very much, but he wasn’t about to let Nesta watch him puke.

‘Attention travellers, it is approaching twelve o’clock. We shall stop at a city in five minutes. You will get from 12:10 until 1:30 to eat, we gather at the bus and leave at 1:50 to be exact. Be mindful of the hour. Unless you contact someone else on the bus, but preferably the driver, you run the risk that we leave without you. You have been warned.’

Cassian started putting his sweater back on and loosened his messy bun so he could put his hat back on once outside, it was freezing.

Nesta didn’t budge and simply turned the page. He let her, thinking she simply didn’t want to start readying herself yet. She mustn’t be hungry. Cassian was impatient from the second he heard the driver mentioning lunch. He was starving.

‘Why did the bus stop?’ Nesta asked in surprise.

‘It’s time for lunch. We need to be back by 1:30 pm. At 1:50 the bus leaves, if we run the chance of being late, we need to contact someone else on the bus or driver or the bus might leave without us.’

‘When did they say this?’

‘Five minutes ago.’

‘Oh, _oh_. We’ll better be quick about it then.’

Nesta powerwalked through the snowy sidewalk to the restaurant with the highest tripadvisor ranking. She took a salad and Cassian took some croque provençals with scrambled eggs on the side.

‘They’re nice seats’, Cassian tried as their lunch was served.   
Nesta raised an eyebrow. ‘What? These?’  
‘No, the bus seats.’ _Smooth_ , Cassian, smooth. He was desperate to find something to talk about.   
‘Yes, quite accommodating. Better than many airplane seats.’

Say something, you oaf, try and connect. This is your chance, she’s responding.

‘Don’t you experience any trouble reading while you’re in a moving vehicle?’  
‘No, otherwise I wouldn’t read.’  Well, obviously. How had he been so good at seducing women before? Cassian started to think he lost his touch.   
‘Feyre and Elain can’t stand it though, they get sick all the time. Sensitive stomach I guess.’  
‘My stomach usually isn’t sensitive though. Guess it’s just bad lucK;’

‘You read?’

‘Of course I read. I’m not illiterate.’

‘I’ve just… never seen you read before. And you…’

‘I don’t look like the type? That’s just mean. You have never seen me read before because you don’t spend any time near me.’

‘That might be a reason, yes’, she admitted.

‘So… How’s the book going?’

She shook her shoulders. ‘I’ve read it before, it goes as it always does. It’s lovely and increasingly frustrating to read about the main characters being so dense and acting so awkwardly, though the way their inner struggle is written is delightful. And to read about Thornton’s pining… It’s cute.’

‘It’s a romance novel?’ Cassian asked in utter astonishment. Nesta quirked an annoyed eyebrow. _Not the right thing to say._

‘It’s a literary classic.’

‘I just thought… You’re so practical. Like you aren’t swayed by romance or sentiment.’

‘I’m not’, she said as she downed her glass of water.

Cassian bit back his question as to why she chose to read romance. Why would she read it? She hated it in real life… Or maybe it was because she hated it in real life that she read about it.

Nesta was a busy modern woman. She was spread thin over all her obligations. To get where she was, she couldn’t spend her time on living out romances and having a chill day planning like they did in whatever era that book was from. Cassian knew little from history, but he knew the posh people did nothing in the morning, went on a lot of walks, did one thing in their day and then went to dinner parties. But maybe she longed for it. Feyre had implied Nesta was overworked and awkward when she didn’t have a goal.   
Come to think of it, all conversations they’d had were awkward. Maybe the being bad with people made her who she was, dedicated to them but unable to fit in with them.

Why did he like her? Was it because she was pretty? It had undoubtedly been the first thing that took his attention, but was that all?

She wasn’t pretty like Elain, delicate and sweet and so easy to fall in love with. She wasn’t fit and healthy like Feyre, whose laidback vibes made her nice to hang with, once she trusted you. He doubted many would call her the most beautiful Archeron. Her gaze was intimidating and analysing, they even made Cassian feel insecure, which meant a lot.

Her body was angled and sharp, except for her round breasts, but Cassian greatly admired those, though they did distract him more than was proper. Her posture was tall and confident, her stride full of purpose. Perhaps she wasn’t the most beautiful, an odd idea according to Cassian but whatever, but she was simply awe-inspiring. She was strong, both mentally and physically. She didn’t back down. She was fearless and headstrong. And though she seemed devoid of emotion, the way she was able to dedicate her life to help others told him more than enough. She _did_ care. And that strength, that was sexy.

If only, if only…   
She walked in front of him as they headed back towards the bus.  
If only he could manage to get through to her, and discover if his dreams could match reality.

He almost didn’t notice that during their lunching hour, snow had started falling – and was still falling- rather heavily. It was only when Nesta sank through the snow and he reached out for her, that he noticed. She’d been walking on the pavement, and with the fresh layer of snow hadn’t noticed that the pavement had ended and transitioned into a snowy street. The dirty snow on the side of the road was gone and buried beneath at least half an inch of fresh snow.

The bus driver confirmed their fears. ‘It appears snow has decided to fall. A new cold front is heading our way and the next few days snow shall continue to fall in the states we need to pass through. Because of this, we cannot guarantee we will reach New York in time. We apologise for this discomfort but it is outside of our control.’

The bus continued its way. Cassian looked outside every fifteen minutes. Snow hadn’t fallen for a total amount of thirty minutes during the five hour drive before the bus driver announced that they would have to stop for the night, still two states removed from New York. They had barely made any progress the entire afternoon. The agency had booked plenty of rooms in the hotel, Nesta and him could sleep apart tonight, something Nesta seemed to be relieved about. He hoped she would be able to relax in her own room because the last two hours of the bus ride she had done nothing but worry about being late.

They did go for dinner together, in a restaurant that was overcrowded due to the many people hiding for the blizzard. Their small talk did go fine this time, and they managed to go without insulting the other… All by all, it was a successful day. Maybe this trip to New York would be just fine after all.


	3. 3: A series of Unfortunate Events

The moment Cassian woke up, he expected the day to go as was expected. He dressed in a comfortable pair of pants, put on a comfortable soft tee and pulled on a nice looking sweater and his trusted boots. He went to breakfast as he was supposed to. And it was only when he didn’t encounter Nesta, that he started asking questions. True, the two of them hadn’t agreed to have breakfast together, nor had they agreed on an hour to meet up. The last one had seemed evident. Since the whole bus resided in the hotel and the bus stood right outside of the entrance they would gather at the same hour as everyone else. Maybe she’d already had breakfast and was answering some emails. Maybe she was making herself ready and planned to have breakfast later on. It didn’t matter. Cassian went back to his room and put everything back inside his duffel bag, he made sure not to forget his powerbank that he’d charged that night and his toothbrush. He always forgot his toothbrush.

The time ticked by and Cassian decided to amuse himself with a game, and soon got so caught up that when he looked back at the clock it was just twenty minutes before they had to gather. Nesta still hadn’t texted him though. He decided to call her, but she didn’t pick up. He tried again. Nothing.

What if something was going on?

Was she already downstairs? No, she would’ve let him know, right?

He went downstairs and asked for Nesta’s room. The lady at the reception responded that she hadn’t returned her key yet. She was still in her room. He asked for her room number and almost ran to her room, pounding on the doors.

‘Nesta? Nesta! Hey, we’re supposed to leave in fifteen minutes… Nesta?!’

He heard a faint rumbling behind the door and after a minute, a sleepy red eyed Nesta opened the door. ‘Nesta what the fuck? We’re leaving in a matter of minutes? Why aren’t you dressed yet?’

Her eyes almost grew comically large.

‘What!’ She ran towards her nightstand and lifted her phone. The cable came with it, but the cable hadn’t been plugged in the charger. ‘Fuck!’ She threw open her windows and started brushing her teeth.

‘Can I help?’ Cassian offered. ‘Yes- No I still need some things. Just make sure your bag is downstairs. Alert the bus driver.’

Cassian sprinted towards his room, which was two floors higher at the end… And then he realised he left his keys in Nesta’s room. He sprinted towards the elevator. What to do? Go to Nesta’s room first or alert the driver? He threw a look at his watch.

Five minutes.

Busdriver first. He hopped in the elevator. Right as it closed someone else stepped in. They went out at the next level. He passed Nesta’s level. A whole family tried to get into the elevator too.

Three minutes.

It stopped again at the next level. They were too full for the others to get in, yet they tried to push. It didn’t work.

 _Please, please, please._ Cassian begged.

An elderly couple made the elevator stop at the first level. They accepted the elevator was full and the elevator quickly went down. The family took its time, the three children skipping out while the parents clumsily tried to get their luggage out in such a way that Cassian couldn’t get past.

Cassian jumped over the final small suitcase and was practically flying towards the door. Time was up. But they had to leave a bit later right? Everyone always left five minutes after they intended to. They had to. As he pushed through the doors he was already shouting for the bus driver to wait. But when he got outside, he saw the backside of the bus as it turned away from the hotel.

‘Wait!’ Cassian decided to run. ‘Wait!’ He sprinted through the little flower perk in front of the hotel in an attempt to get in front of the bus. If only the driver could see him, he’d stop. As he crossed the perk, he slipped on the frozen snow and fell. He could barely roll away from a driving car in time.

By the time he came upright again, the bus turned a corner.

 _Fuck_.

Cassian went back to Nesta’s room. She was standing at the edge of her bed, closing her suitcase.

‘Well?’  
‘Left my key in your room.’  
‘Yes you did, it’s there’, she said, pointing to her nightstand. ‘I hope it didn’t take you all that time to get from your floor to mine. You’ve been downstairs to tell them right?’

‘I have.’

‘Good. Then we can go after you get your case.’

‘I was too late. The bus was leaving. The elevator was stuck, everyone kept coming in and it took me ten minutes to get downstairs. I tried running after it, but I slipped and fell. By the time I got up again, the bus was too far gone. I’m sorry Nesta.’

‘What? No. What? You can’t be saying… You can’t….’

‘We’ve lost the bus.’

She sank to her knees. ‘God no. What to do? What do we do? We need to be in New York in four days.’

‘I don’t know anyone living near, do you?’

Nesta shook her head.

‘Then we take another bus. Or the train. Whatever. We can make it work. We’ll make it.’

‘Then we take another bus. Or the train. Whatever. We can make it work. We’ll make it.’

‘You think so?’

‘We’re two states removed. It can’t be that hard.’

 

 

When they asked for another bus, the receptionist admitted that there was no travel company in town, and the nearest station was quite far. But the next town, which was only thirty miles removed, did have a company that organised busses to New York.

Nesta and Cassian both agreed to try that before they worried Feyre in her pregnant state.

‘But… Just one question: how do we get there? All public transport is cancelled because of the blizzard and we can’t exactly rent a car since we’ll have to leave it at the next town.’ She was taking this with amazing grace. He’d expected her to have lost her shit by now. Not that he thought of her as hysterical, but this was the ultimate nightmare of a perfectionist. As they were trudging through the little town with their cases in tow, his eye suddenly fell on a motorcycle with a sidecar.

“For Sale.”

‘Hey Nes, I’ve got a solution, do you trust me?’ ‘I gotta.’  
‘Over there, what if we bought it? It’ll get us to the next town, we’ll be able to pass traffic jams and it’s cheaper than buying a car and better than waiting for the blizzard to pass.’

‘A motorcycle? Are you kidding me?’  
‘Why not?’  
‘That thing is dangerous! It’s murder on wheels.’  
‘It’s not if you know how to drive it.’  
‘And do you know how to drive it?’  
‘You see these biker boots? They’re not just a fashion statement.’ Cassian grinned.

Nesta looked at the motorcycle with the most unhappy look on her face.   
‘Have you ever driven it in snow? Three inches of it?’  
‘No, but there’s a first time for everything. Besides, with a sidecar that thing is practically as stable as a car! Trust me.’

He’d been asking for a lot of trust on her side. ‘Fine.’

They bought the motor and split the price. They agreed to place it somewhere safe in the town where they would get on the bus. Cassian eagerly walked around the motor and finally threw Nesta’s suitcase in the sidecar.

‘Hey, where am I supposed to go?’  
‘Well, you can hold on to me and sit on the second cushion behind me. Your suitcase can’t hold on to me.’ So they strapped their luggage on the sidecar and took place on the motor.

‘Excited?’  
‘Shut. Up. Prick.’ She hissed as she braided her hair away from her face.

‘Hold on to me. Real tight.’  
‘Don’t you like that.’  
‘I do’, he laughed. ‘But that’s because I wouldn’t like you falling. We need to get to New York in one piece, we can’t afford losing time to a hospital visit.’

‘Maybe if I fall hard enough, they’ll have to helicopter me to New  York.’

Cassian laughed heartily and perhaps pushed the gas a bit more than he should’ve to scare Nesta a bit.

She’d made a fair point: driving in snow was very different. He was used to speeding through the street, making steep turns and pushing the breaks harshly. Now he quickly realised that even driving a little bit over 30 miles, he would slip. Pushing the break to harshly would make them turn and twist around like crazy and never mind making steep turns.

And though they did get past a couple of cars, they were still stuck in traffic for most of the time. By the time night fell they still hadn’t reached the city. The traffic was really crazy. Were was everyone going to?

‘How long? It’s dark and cold.’ They’d been on top of that motorcycle for six hours in the freezing cold. Cassian had to admit he could feel neither his fingers nor toes.  
He passed his phone to her, since her phone was dead because it hadn’t charged.

‘No’, Nesta moaned. Cassian felt her head against his back. ‘At this rate it’s going to be more than an hour still. I can’t anymore. This was an awful idea.’

‘You had a better one? We wouldn’t be here freezing our butts off right now if you hadn’t overslept.’  
‘I didn’t intend to!’  
‘It’s just common sense to double check whether your phone is charging and your clock is set. Didn’t you boast about being an early riser anyways?’

‘I am!’

‘Oh yeah? What happened? Gnomes unplugged your phone and mr. Sandman threw a double doze of sleep into your eyes.’

Her fingers pried into his ribs. ‘Not funny, dick. You don’t know anything about me.’  
‘That’s because you don’t tell me anything. I can’t take you into account if you don’t tell me anything. Now we’re working together and we’re in a very crappy situation together so I suggest that if there is a problem you tell it to me… Before anything else goes wrong.’

‘What are you suggesting?’ Her voice was sharp and deadly.   
‘Don’t think you’re better than me. I fuck up once in a million times. I’m not the reason things go wrong. Except today. But in my defence, I couldn’t have helped it. It was an accident.’  
‘Ugh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t suggesting anything. I’m just annoyed because of the cold, and hunger. I’m tired, I shouldn’t take it out on you. However Nesta, I’m serious. If there’s something going on, I need to know about it. We’re travelling together, we rely on each other.’

‘There’s a hotel at five minutes from here, if you turn left at the next turn. It’s past six, the company will be closed anyway.’

Cassian nodded. ‘Alright, let’s go and hope they have a room. Maybe the snow will have molten by tomorrow.

It wasn’t a hotel. Not really. It was a very cute looking ten bedroom hotel. As they approached the doors, Nesta froze. ‘What? Hey, Ness?’

‘Don’t call me that, no one calls me that’, she hissed as she pointed upwards.   
Cassian followed her trail.   
“Your ideal honeymoon starts here”  The wooden name plaque said.

‘I think I need to keep on calling you Ness.’

‘Oh no. Please, what romcom have I walked into’, she moaned.

‘Hey, we’ll make it work. It’s just for one night. Remember: whatever we gotta do for that room it wlll guarantee us warmth, a bed, a hot shower and a place to charge your phone. Come on.’

Though Cassian had to admit he had nerves as well. He liked to tease Nesta, but the idea made him highly uncomfortable. He shouldn’t tease her, he shared her feelings.

And she really couldn’t appreciate his big mouth. God, he’d crossed so many lines today. He’d been so mean to her. Why had he been so mean to her? No wonder she wasn’t interested in him. He sounded like a jerk. He should be nice to her. Especially if they had to pretend to be a couple to get into this honeymoon hotel. They were stuck with each other. He better made it pleasant.

But at the very least; they’d continuously talked throughout the day, which was a good thing.

He hoped.


End file.
